Nymph Project
by CryHope
Summary: A portkey challenge! Challenge: In their 7th year the HP characters are taking child psychology. So in Care and Keeping of magical creatures they are put into a girl and boy pair and given a baby nymph to take care of for the rest of the year. Just a one


Disclaimer: Based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.  
  
A/N: This was written to a challenge over at portkey. Challenge: In their 7th year the HP characters are taking child psychology. So in Care and Keeping of magical creatures they are put into a girl and boy pair and given a baby nymph to take care of for the rest of the year. This should be longer, but I can never write a long story. So this is just a one-shot. Constructive criticisms are welcome. Enjoy!  
  
Hermione Granger gave the password to the Fat Lady (twinkle toes), and willed herself to take a few more steps towards the common room, where she plopped down upon the largest and most comfortable sofa. She breathed a sigh of relief and welcomed the warmth of the fire that cracked merrily in the hearth.  
  
She had spent the last hour walking around the castle for night prowlers because it was one of her duties as Head Girl. 'I must have been mental taking that badge', she silently thought. What with the N.E.W.T.s, she knew that it would be hard juggling the studying that she needed to do and the duties that came along with the title of Head Girl. Now, with the project that was thrust upon every seventh year student that took Care Of Magical Creatures, she was bloody drained.  
  
She closed her eyes and for a while enjoyed the darkness that surrounded her eyes. Then, quite unexpectedly, she pictured the Nymph that she and one of her best friend had parented for the past couple of months. She had thought that Hagrid had to have gone over the edge for him to suggest the thought of teenagers parenting young Nymphs. But as Hagrid had said, and so did the books that she read, Nymphs could resemble their 'parents' if the supposed Nymph drank a kind of magical water with the supposed Nymph parents' blood.  
  
So when the little creature had drunk the water, she witnessed her and Harry's Nymph change as it formed into a creature that resembled a 3-month- old baby. What surprised her more was when the baby looked at her for the first time and she saw that the Nymph had inherited her father's emerald green eyes.  
  
She opened her eyes and was startled to see the scene that greeted her. She hadn't noticed it before, but in front of her lay two sleeping figures, their rhythm of breathing even and matched with the others. She couldn't help but smile.  
  
Harry Potter lay on one of the three-seater couches in only his boxers and a white t-shirt that she guessed to have 'Chudley Cannon' written across the chest. But the letterings were hidden underneath a tiny figure dressed in pajamas lying on her stomach, her head resting where Harry's heart was.  
  
It was one of those Kodak moments, and she silently chuckled at the Muggle expression. But no other phrase fit better than that Muggle saying. It was such a beautiful and rare sight to see. Harry's hand seemed so strong yet gentle as he placed it on little Anne Potter's back, making sure that she didn't fall off his chest. Anne's fingers were firmly attached to her dad's chest and one of her hands had grabbed a handful of Harry's shirt as if saying that he was hers and would always be hers. What made it into such a beautiful sight was the way both figures had a small smile upon their lips, and with the dim light coming from the fire, it made them look quite peaceful and happy.  
  
She sighed and smiled, wishing that she had a camera. But deep down, she knew that she would always treasure the scene before her. It was simply a scene that fully described the word beautiful.  
  
She was about to get up and head to her Head Girl dorm room when she was stopped midway out of her chair by a quiet voice.  
  
"Don't go yet."  
  
She sat back down and looked across the room. Harry tried to get up, but when he noticed that Anne was sprawled over his chest, he grabbed a pillow instead and set it behind his head to get more comfortable. He let out a yawn while absently stroking the mop of black curls that lay on his chest.  
  
"Did you just get back" Harry asked her softly as to not wake little Anne.  
  
"Yeah," she said, too tired to elaborate more.  
  
Silence descended over them and the only sounds that could be heard were the crackling of fire and the soft raindrops that palpated the windows of the tower. Harry continued to stroke Anne's hair and Hermione stared silently at the tiny figure. Both seventeen-year-olds were left to their own thoughts for a couple of minutes.  
  
" She's beautiful," Hermione said, breaking the silence.  
  
Harry looked over to her and smiled. "Yeah, she is."  
  
" She has beautiful eyes like yours," Hermione said, getting a blush out of Harry.  
  
" Thank you."  
  
Silence once again took over the common room. Somewhere in the room a clock announced the arrival of midnight. Hermione was just about to get up again when Harry started speaking.  
  
" I never thought I could do this. It's a miracle I haven't hurt her yet. She's so tiny. So fragile," Harry spoke, all the while stroking the little child's mop of hair.  
  
" Six months ago today, I was up there in that room. It was so dark and I was so tired. He was there, waiting for me to stumble into the room. I could feel the hate between his and mine joined and for a minute I thought that my mind would never be filled with other emotions other than hate. That frightens me more than the fact that I'd probably die at the end of that little meeting. The next thing I knew, he was dead with the sword piercing his heart."  
  
He looked up at Hermione's face and she thought that a rather huge lump was stuck inside her throat. He looked at her with such sadness and knew that he had never wanted to talk about that night to anyone.  
  
Hermione started to open her mouth to say something, anything. She wanted to tell him that it was all right to tell her, that she would listen, that she would understand even if he didn't tell her.  
  
But he beat her to it.  
  
" I was afraid of this. This feeling that I get whenever I hold Anne. Whenever I see her with you laughing over something silly. I never really knew this feeling. I never felt this kind of feeling for a human being. It may be a bad thing, but if it is then why does it feel so good? It's so good to just be here with Anne. Like right now. I feel it now. I feel it with you and Anne." He glanced down upon the sleeping figure of Anne who had let go of his shirt and a thumb was in her mouth.  
  
" I just thought I let you know," he said quietly, shyly looking over at her.  
  
Hermione just sat there, too stunned to speak. Harry never talked like this. He never was the guy who would talk about his feelings. He never was the kind of boy who would pour his heart out. He was never this... raw.  
  
" It's called love, Harry," Hermione whispered, more to herself than answering an unasked question.  
  
From across the room, emerald eyes met her cinnamon ones.  
  
" I know Hermione, I know now," he said as he smiled one of those rare smiles of his.  
  
Hermione felt herself walking towards the two mop of dark hair. Harry sat up, while trying to not wake Anne. He leaned himself back towards the cushions and little Anne stirred a bit before resting comfortable again using Harry's chest as her bed.  
  
Hermione sat beside him and imitated his stance. She let out a sigh as her head made contact with the soft cushion behind her. She let her eyes drop, and knew that she would not make it up the stairs towards her room before slumber took its toll.  
  
But before she could join the sweet dreamland she needed to tell him something.  
  
" You deserved it Harry. You deserved the happiness. And love is the only way to bring that."  
  
With that said, she closed her eyes. Harry looked over at Hermione's face and saw her jaws and cheekbones relax as her tired mind and body began to take the needed rest. He smiled and thought that he was lucky to see his two favorite girls sleeping next to him.  
  
He drew out his left arm and enveloped Hermione's shoulder. His other hand held little Anne more firmly as Hermione's head fit perfectly in the crook of his neck. He unintentionally kissed Hermione's mass of wavy brown hair and little Anne's mop of curly black.  
  
He smiled, one last smile of the night, as he felt sleep reaching his eyes again. A final thought crept into his mind before it shut down for the night. He thought that this was nice. This was happiness he longed for. He knew, and was a bit frightened, that this was love.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
" Ginny? Come here!" whispered Colin rather too loud to be considered a whisper.  
  
" What?" A red headed young woman said as she walked over to the portrait hole, anxious to eat before Quidditch practice. She cursed Harry in her mind to schedule Saturday morning practices.  
  
" Just come here, will you? It's only six! Practice is at seven!" Colin said waving his arm to indicate to her that she must come over.  
  
" This better be good," Ginny muttered under her breath.  
  
The sight before her made her smile, and forget for a time about killing Harry for scheduling such an early practice. Almost. Lying on the couch were Harry, Hermione and Anne. Harry had his arm wrapped around Hermione's shoulder and an arm protecting Anne who lay on his stomach. Hermione's arm was thrown, casually it seemed, over Anne's tiny figure and her hand resided gracefully on top of Harry's. All of them were sleeping peacefully, unaware of the two people studying them.  
  
" I'm going to get my camera. This is one hell of Kodak Moment." Colin said with an enthusiastic smile plastered on his face.  
  
Ginny looked at him with a questioning look. " What the bloody hell is a Kodak moment?"  
  
Colin gave her a look and said, " It's a Muggle expression I learned from my uncle in America."  
  
" Right," Ginny said, rolling her eyes.  
  
Colin ran, or rather flew, up the stairs and got his camera.  
  
" This would make one hell of a picture!" Colin said, wearing the expression of a child during Christmas morning.  
  
" You know, Harry is the captain and he said that we have an early practice, yet he's still sleeping. Tell me one good reason why I shouldn't pour a bucket of ice water over his head," Ginny asked over the clicking sound that Colin was making with his camera.  
  
" Those would be A) He'll kill you afterwards, a brief reminder that he defeated You-Know-Who, *click* b ) Hermione and Anne are beside him, * click* need I remind you who the Head Girl is, and," Colin took a deep breath and another picture *click*, " C) They deserved this, Ginny. Especially Harry."  
  
Both of them gazed at the Boy-Who-Lived and unconsciously their gaze lingered a moment or two at the scar on his forehead, a constant reminder that he was the one and only Harry Potter.  
  
Ginny felt a hand on her shoulder and she met Colin's eyes. " Let them be Ginny. I've never saw Harry smile like that, and he's smiling while he's obviously sleeping. Must be a good thing, right?"  
  
Colin left her and exited the common room.  
  
Ginny was left standing there in front of two thirds of the famous trio.  
  
" You know, you two do make a great couple. I just hope that you're not too stubborn to admit it. And little Anne here, she's the cutest Nymph I ever saw," Ginny said quietly and made her way out of the Gryffindor tower and proceeded to the Great Hall for breakfast.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
She wasn't at all surprised when ten years later, she saw an almost identical scene. Except this time, Harry had a real baby human and it was his own real daughter, rather than a Nymph resting on his stomach.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
FIN! 


End file.
